The Million Dollar Question

So tell me if this sounds familiar...

Pick up Mason from school at 2:45 and drop him off at piano lessons.  Pick up Morgan and Brooklyn from school at 3:30 and run Morgan to swim team practice.  Pick up Mason from piano ten minutes late because some guy driving a hay trailer took a turn too fast and dumped his load all over the road shutting down all but one lane of traffic.  Drop Brooklyn off at gymnastics and Mason at football where you forgot it was your turn to bring Gatorade.  Run to the store, back to the football field and then to pick Morgan up at the pool.  Squeak through the door of the dry cleaners right as they're locking up and then back to the gym to grab Brooklyn.  Hopefully she can just jump in as your driving by because Mason is texting you from the field wondering where you are.  After hitting every single red light on the way, Mason and the extra Gatorade are in the car and Brooklyn asks, "Mom, what's for dinner?".  Ummmm.....Taco Bell?

What's for dinner can be the single most dreaded question any mom or dad or anyone for that matter has to answer.  And the answer is something my dad always said that I swore I would never say.  Failing to plan is planning to fail.  Dinner requires a game plan.  It takes a little extra work, but the payoff is well worth it.

There are different ways to approach dinner menus.  One woman I knew had it worked out that Mondays were Italian night, Tuesdays were Mexican night and so forth.  Her family's favorite was Friday - breakfast for dinner.  My mom would plan a month of meals at a time that included tacos every single Sunday.  What works for me is doing a week at a time.  Most grocery stores start new sales and discounts on Wednesdays.  My store of choice is King Soopers, the Colorado front range Kroger chain store.  So every Wednesday I run in and grab a sale ad.  You can also find the weekly ads online.  At the top of the page I'm making my list on I actually write the days of the week, usually Friday-Thursday because that's how my shopping works out.  Then I start through the ad and begin building a dinner plan based on what's on sale.  If I know I've got the late shift on Tuesday night then it's something I can put in the crock pot before I leave.  If I know Thursday night is packed then it's something fast and simple like grilled cheese and tomato soup.  During Cole's baseball season we did things that were portable and could go to games with us.  Ask your family what their favorites are because believe it or not, the more involved they are with the planning the more likely they are to actually eat it.  What I end up with is something like this -

Friday - Swiss steak over rice, steamed carrots, salad
Saturday - Potato soup, rolls
Sunday - Pulled pork sandwiches, cabbage salad, cantaloupe
Monday - Chicken paprika, egg noodles, steamed broccoli
Tuesday - Cottage cheese meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad
Wednesday - Chicken rice-a-roni salad
Thursday - Lasagne, garlic bread, salad

It does take a bit of effort, but it's a great feeling when it's 4th and long and instead of punting (Taco Bell, McDonalds, Wendys), your family ends up at the dinner table because you had a game plan.  Bill Belichek ain't got nothin' on me :).